In Today’s Issue:

• 🤖 Baseball + AI This Week 

• ⚾️ Six Kids. One Train. The Babe.

• 🎭 The John Oliver sweepstakes

• 🧢 Coach’s Korner 

• ⚙️ Gearin’ Up

• ⚾️ Walk off Chaos

• 🗣️ They Said What?

• ⚾️ and more

🧢 My Dugout Favs

• 'He's a great guy'

  Pope Leo XIV honored by the Sox, loved ones with Rate Field mural (MLB.Com)

• Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

  Each club's most pleasant prospect surprise (MLB.Com)

• ‘Just a little outside’ - Bob Uecker

  While its not the same without the ‘Ueck - How Christian Yelich is carrying on Bob Uecker's legacy (ESPN)

• How many tools?

  The 5 Tools—and the 6th That Separates the Greats (LinkedIn)

• Lets talk about how the bats actually move during contact

  4 new swing metrics tell us more than we've ever known about contact. (MLB.Com)

• Why the 2025 Colorado Rockies are every bookmaker's nightmare

  Coming off the White Sox disaster, the Rockies were a sure bet to bomb. Now? Total wildcard—and a bettor’s worst nightmare (ESPN)

DEEP DIVE

🤖 Baseball + AI This Week

🧠 Emotion-Sensing Wearables Are Here⚾️

Youth baseball isn’t just about mechanics anymore.

It’s about managing the mental grind—the slumps, jitters, and pressure.

Now, coaches and parents are getting help from a new kind of teammate:
Emotion-sensing wearables.

FocusCalm, Muse 2, and WHOOP track brain activity and stress—letting you spot focus issues before they show up in the box score.

These aren’t magic mind readers—but they are stress radars.

And they’re helping coaches make smarter decisions, faster resets, and more meaningful conversations.

In other words, you’re not reading their mind. You’re reading their focus.

From building confidence to spotting burnout, these devices are quietly reshaping how we coach the next generation.

👉Read the full article

🔥 Baseball Discounts

🧠 Smart deals for smart ballplayers (and smarter parents)

🦾 Rawlings MACH AI Baseball Bat (2025)
➡️ Click to check price

🕶️ Under Armour Boys' UA Playmaker Jr. Sunglasses
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🎒 Franklin Sports Youth Baseball Bat Bag
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🪵 MARUCCI AP5 Torpedo PRO Model Bat
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🛒 Disclosure: These are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you—helps keep the bullpen lights on!

🌀 Chaos at Its Absolute Finest

🎬 You Gotta See This to Believe It

Only in Minor League Baseball.

This week, the Reno Aces looked like they had a walk-off win in the bag—until the celebration turned into a blooper reel.

Trailing 4–3 with the bases loaded, Connor Kaiser ripped a double to right-center. The game should’ve been over. Cristian Pache rounded third, ready to score the winning run…

…but got tripped by his own teammates rushing out of the dugout to celebrate.

Yep. Interference. Called out.

(Try explaining that one to your manager... while he's face-down in the dugout cooler.)

But wait—chaos saves the day! While everyone tried to make sense of what just happened, the runner from first base sped around and scored the winning run.

Final score: Reno 5, Albuquerque 4.
Final verdict: Glorious madness. Minor League style..

🧢 Playing Catch with the Old Man

Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt has caught plenty of first pitches—but this one was so much different.

As Schmidt prepared to catch the ceremonial first pitch Thursday at Yankee Stadium, the team had a surprise lined up: his dad.

U.S. Marine Corps Col. Dwight Schmidt. 30 years of service. Delta pilot. Occasional Yankees charter pilot.

But on this night, for Fleet Week and a packed Bronx crowd, he was just Dad—stepping onto the mound to toss one in to his son.

No hype. No flash. Just two Schmidts, a baseball, and a moment.

Because some of the best catches in baseball don’t show up in the box score—they live in the heart.

Six Kids. One Train. The Babe.

For most of us, Babe Ruth was a mythical god—the home run king, larger than life. We never saw him play.

But we know the stories. The black-and-white footage. The swagger. The legend.

Then came 1933. A rainy night in Passaic, New Jersey.
A different kind of story unfolded.

Six orphan boys spotted a train barreling toward washed-out tracks. Thinking fast, they waved their raincoats, signaling danger.

The train screeched to a halt—400 lives saved.

When asked what they wanted as a reward, the boys had one wish: Tell Babe Ruth what we did.

The Babe got the message. And he didn’t just send a telegram—he showed up.

He brought bats, caps, neckties stitched with his name. He invited them to a game. Promised to hit one out for them.

He didn’t go yard that day—but he gave them something bigger:
A moment of belonging. A memory that outlived any box score.

This isn’t just a baseball story. It’s a reminder of why the game—and its legends—still matter.

 🧢 Full story + original photos courtesy of historian Mark S. Auerbach.